Toonman Bartends Toontopia - In Loving Memory (Patreon)

Its been a while since I've done a new "Toonman Bartends Toontopia" strip, but I'm happy to announce that newest one is done AND it pays tribute to the late great voice actors Tom Kane and Daveigh Chase.

So, with the last two Bartending strips I've already introduce the idea that many cartoons in Toontopia had mixed feelings about the humans who made them. But most of the negative feelings are more towards how corporate big wigs micro-manage everything that affects the quality. of a cartoon's series and movie and otherwise ruin it. Or how fans can get too obsessive with certain cartoons in things like shipping wars. Despite this, there are certain types of humans that cartoons are always grateful for, and that is namely the animators who designed them and the voice actors who gave them their personality, both contributing equally to bringing the cartoons to life. Without either of these two human types, the cartoons would never fully exist. And it's almost impossible to find an animator or voice actor who screwed up so bad compared to other humans that the cartoons are ashamed to be direct offshoots of them. So whenever an animator or especially a voice actor passes away, toons always feels like the lose a part of themselves.

And when it comes to voice actors who have voiced a lot of different toons, those humans are regarded as true animation legends or icons in Toontopia for helping to bring to life so many of their citizens. They are considered to be up there with such iconic animators such as Walt Disney, and for many voice actors Toontopia has certain venues and locations within their worlds that pay tribute to these selected voice actors, both in life or death. Such is the case within the bar that Toonman bartends for so many years, which scene here contains a "wall of legends" that pays tribute to many animators, writers and especially voice actors who brought that bar's patrons to life. But it is always a somber day in these venues when another legend is placed upon the wall, because it usually means they are no longer living. But for some it's not just both a loving tribute and sad reminder of what is lost. It's a reminder to most Toons that not all humans are 100% bad, that without them they wouldn't have existed. At least, that's how our boy Toonman has always viewed it anyway.

This is a subject I wanted to touch on for a while now with a different late voice actors or actresses who have passed away. Due to my own hectic life at the time I've never been fully able to sit down and pay tribute in time with this strip. After losing Tom and Daveigh I finally said enough was enough and set out to make this strip before too much time has passed. Most likely I will be doing future tributes to different animation icons in future strips, maybe touching on the animator or voice actress themselves. But for now, here's a look into the humans that toons regard with lots of love despite how flawed we are.

Let us know what you guys think of this newest strip with a comment below! And let us know who your favorite characters voiced by Tom Kane and Daveigh Chase were! We'd love to know!

Toonman: The Animated Ace © NRG Comics

Art by David Velasquez

Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends © Cartoon Network

Lilo and Stitch © Walt Disney Studios

Spirited Away © Studio Ghibli